Displaying items by tag: Linda Fortunato

When I remember John Denver, it’s hard not to think about crisp country air, clean rivers, pristine mountains and, well, just a healthy planet. John loved nature. It was abundantly clear in his music. His life was cut short at just 53 years old when a plane he was piloting crashed into Monterey Bay, but the folk and country singer left quite an impression on the world in his four decades with not only the music he wrote and performed but also his work as an activist and humanitarian.

In Almost Heaven, a musical revue created by Harold Thau, the singer’s longtime manager, John Denver’s life and music are celebrated in brilliant fashion. Currently being performed at nearby Theatre at the Center in Munster, Indiana, Artistic Director Linda Fortunato skillfully directs this wonderful tribute as William Underwood lends his special touch as the productions’ Music Director to bring Denver’s most memorable songs to life.

(left to right) Actors Steven Romero Schaffer, Tommy Malouf, Sara Geist and Andrew Mueller - Photo by Guy Rhodes

While telling the story of Denver’s life from the start of his music career in the 1960’s through his untimely death in 1997, the musically gifted cast takes turns singing and playing songs that include fan favorites “Rocky Mountain High,” “Annie’s Song,”, “Sunshine on My Shoulders” and, of course, “Take Me Home, Country Roads”. The often-moving story touches on Denver’s anti-war stance despite growing up in a military family, his meteoric rise in becoming a household name, his marriage, his love for a rich, clean environment and the impact his music had on so many people. A particularly touching moment occurs when a letter is read from a young fan in China who shares what a positive effect Denver has left on her and her music teacher – even at a time when it was illegal to listen to his music in their country. We are also made privy to Denver’s shortcomings in his later years, since he, too, is after all human.

A rotating cast commands the three-quarter round theater. Steven Romero Schaeffer, Shannon McEldowney, Andrew Mueller, Sara Geist and Tommy Malouf each deliver strong solo and group performances, beautiful harmonies filling the venue as the five also impress on stringed instruments playing along with the Underwood-led band that also features musicians Malcolm Ruhl and Alison Tatum.

Almost Heaven is a well-crafted musical work that flows at the perfect pace while grabbing its audience from the very beginning - and it never lets go. Whether a fan of John Denver’s already or for those that have been recently introduced to his work, this production is sure to entertain and touch hearts.

Highly recommended.  

Almost Heaven is being performed at Theatre at the Center through March 22^nd. For tickets and/or more information visit www.TheatreAtTheCenter.com.

I am from Miami, Florida and after moving to Chicago there was a time when I genuinely looked forward to the first snow of the year. I’d also wish for snowfall each year to bring us a white Christmas here in Chicago and this lovely production of ‘White Christmas’ at Theatre at the Center brought that joy back into my mind for the first time in years.

The story is about two servicemen, Bob (Matt Edmonds) and Phil (Justin Brill), who become big time entertainers after their army days. From performing in USO shows for fellow military troops during World War II to becoming a featured act on the Ed Sullivan show, the two pals are now looking for a "sister act".  It isn’t long before the two stumble upon Judy and Betty (both played wonderfully by Casiena Raether and Erica Stephan) and wind up not only finding two talented women to perform with but also finding true love. The tale is a timeless one thanks to Irving Berlin's classic music – and this cast does the book and lyrics of Berlin justice.

When Bob and Phil run across their old General, Henry Waverly (Neil Friedman), they happily offer to help out by lending their star presence by performing at his lodge in the hopes of attracting more guests. The retired General is on hard times having sunk his entire life saving into the lodge. Thankfully he has been keeping his head just above water thanks to the help he receives from his ever-loyal lodge hand Martha Watson (brilliantly played by Glory Kissel). It isn’t long before Bob and Phil enlist Judy and Betty and a host of fantastic dancers to put on the show of a lifetime at the General’s lodge. It is nothing short of touching to see the dedication Bob and Phil have towards General Henry Waverly.

I would totally see this production twice just to hear the everlastingly touching “How Deep is The Ocean”:

"How much do I love you? I'll tell you no lie

How deep is the ocean? How high is the sky?

How many times a day do I think of you?

How many roses are sprinkled with dew?

How far would I travel to be where you are?

How far is the journey from here to a star?

And if I ever lost you, how much would I cry?

How deep is the ocean? How high is the sky?"

“Blue Skies” was another showstopper with the entire cast tapping in blue and white to Irving Berlin's classic song about the very real exciting effects of new love taking place on the loving new couples:

"Never saw the sun shining so bright

Never saw things going so right

Noticing the days hurrying by

When you're in love, my how they fly

Blue days

All of them gone

Nothing but blue skies

From now on!"

(from lerft) Erica Stephan as Betty and Casiena Raether as Judy. Photo by Guy Rhodes

There was a palpable chemistry in the humorous courtship between the wry, dry Phil and slightly uptight and business-oriented Betty, which the whole audience picked up on and really enjoyed watching develop scene by scene.

Director Linda Fortunato is wisely able to draw out the fun in her own unique way from each song and also includes a few numbers cut from the motion picture, like "Falling Out of Love Can be Fun,” sung by Martha, Betty and Judy. The song gives the thoroughly modern advice, way ahead of it's time, that if you are heartbroken by one man you can pick yourself up and try again without shame.

"When you've find your lover has gone

Get your second wind and go on

There's an old affair that is there for renewing

In your grief, do you know what you're doing?

Falling out of love can be fun

Soon, you'll be swinging in a hammock on a porch

One arm wrapped around someone else

The other arm carrying a torch

Love can give a lady a clout

And she may be down but not out

Get yourself a date, don't you wait for the count of ten, then

Falling out of love can be fun!"

Talented Artistic Director Linda Fortunato wears multiple hats not only directing this production but providing its dazzling choreography. William Underwood gives this show its musical direction. 

Special kudos must go to Glory Kissel as the rowdy Senior hotel concierge for her entire performance and especially the showstopper "Let me Sing, I'm Happy." Kissel shows the youngsters in the cast just how it's done with her amazing dance and superb physical comedy skills while singing out about the pure Joy of being alive and happy.

The super talented ensemble blows everyone away with one fantastic tap or dance number after another.

It is truly thrilling to watch all those tapping feet moving in perfect unison. Other great numbers include “Heat Wave,” “I Love a Piano” and of course, the title song “White Christmas”, a song that Matt Edmonds sings to perfection as he captures the period so well with both his singing and acting.    

I can't recommend this production highly enough for audiences of all ages who are looking for a happy, fun-filled and joyous celebration of LOVE and of course SNOW, during this cold and oft-strenuous Holiday season. 

‘White Christmas’ is being performed at Theatre at the Center in nearby Munster, IN through December 22nd. For more information visit www.theatreatthecenter.com.

The inimitable Doris Day played the lead in the film version of Pajama Game after the hit musical ran on Broadway for three years and won a Tony. I enjoyed this production of The Pajama Game at Theatre at the Center so much from beginning to end that I am surprised it is not produced more often. 

Although there is a relevant plotline about the workers of a pajama factory who are trying to get a seven and one-half cent raise by organizing a union strike, the real story that affects all of the couples in the show is about love. 

Filled with delightful and memorable classic songs like “Hey There", "I'll Never Be Jealous Again", "Fernando's Hideaway" and "Steam Heat", I was taken back in time to the 1950's and swept up in each characters struggle to make a successful and lasting connection with the apple of their eye. 

Curtis Bannister plays Sid, the new boss over grievance committee leader Babe Williams (played by Elizabeth Telford), and even though they fall in love at first sight, Telford goes on to triumphantly sing "I’m Not at All in Love!" to her fellow girlfriends/workers and Sid. The handsome but insecure new man in town belts out a really moving rendition of "Hey There": 

"Hey there, you with the stars in your eyes Love never made a fool of you

You used to be too wise

Hey there, you on that high-flying cloud

Though she won't throw a crumb to you

You think someday she'll come to you

Better forget her

Her with her nose in the air

She has dancing on a string

Break it and she won't care."

Newcomer Bannister's voice is outstanding, the whole audience took notice of his skills from the very first notes to the last. 

Bannister and Telford are both perfectly cast, each has the right amount of clean-cut earnest passion to help others while helping each other and both have the singing and acting chops to wow the audience in number after number. 

Sierra Schnack plays Babe's best friend in the factory and deserves a special mention for her great comedic timing and her knockout dancing in the sexy tuxedo and top hat dance and song number "Steam Heat". Another great comedic actress/dancer played Gladys the sexy company secretary (Kelly Fethous).

Linda Fortunato directed this piece at the perfect pace and makes the audience wish there was an encore after the final number, the show is that much fun to watch. 

I highly recommend seeing this show, every number in it is filled with joy, love, humor, and insight about the conditions required to fall in love and stay in love.  

We all play the "pajama game" at some time in our lives and this play makes you want to run out and buy new pajamas! 

For tickets and/or more information visit https://www.theatreatthecenter.com/.

Even if you’re not familiar with Sondheim’s ‘A Little Night Music,’ chances are you’ve heard the song ‘Send in the Clowns.’ BoHo Theatre revives the 1973 musical farce under the direction of Linda Fortunato. Surely there’s not a more romantic summer musical than ‘A Little Night Music – and this production heightens the intimacy in staging and a unique re-orchestration.

At the surface, this comic tale of infidelity and romance set in the Scandinavia countryside is just a drawing room farce. It’s Sondheim’s complicated and soaring music that gives this show flight. He also cleverly lifts themes and ideas from a film by Ingmar Bergman and the works of Ibsen. Despite its seeming lightness there’s great depth in this musical.

‘A Little Night Music’ weaves the affairs of lawyer, Egerman and his young wife Anne. Henrik, Egerman’s son, is in love with similar-aged Anne. Egerman is in love with stage actress Desiree Armfeldt. Then there’s Desiree’s lover Count Malcom, and his jaded wife Charlotte. All these couplings reach a climax during an idyllic weekend in the country.

This is a fun cast to watch. Strong-voiced Rachel Guth provides much of the comic relief as Anne. Desiree is played with a certain sensuality by Kelli Harrington. Her emotionally-charged ‘Send in the Clowns’ is worth the evening alone. Standing out in the role of bitter Countess Charlotte Malcome is Stephanie Stockstill. Donning a cropped pixie cut, Stockstill’s Charlotte is hilariously morbid.

Fortunato makes the most of the space at Greenhouse Theater. Her ‘Night Music’ is scaled back and puts more focus on the music than the effects. She’s able to fill out the ensemble without making the stage feel crowded. The group numbers that make this musical so enjoyable are re-orchestrated by Malcom Ruhl and make perfect sense. An on-stage chamber orchestra provide a charming centerpiece around which the action happens.

Three hours in a theater on a summer night can be a lot to ask. BoHo rewards its audience with a truly charming production of one of Sondheim’s best. Fans of the show will be happy to see some modern touches and those new to this work will surely be piqued by this lovely production.

Through July 8th at BoHo Theatre at the Greenhouse Theater. 2257 N Lincoln Ave. 773-404-7336

In a departure to their oft musical-driven productions, Theater at the Center kicks of the 2018 season with the comedy-drama Steel Magnolias, Robert Harling’s 1987 play that became a blockbuster film directed by Herbert Ross just two years later.

Set in the deep South, in a northwestern Louisiana town, the play revolves around the bond between a handful of small-town women that frequent a local beauty salon, Truvy’s, whose owner is of the same name. Based on the premature death of Harling’s own sister caused by diabetes, the play’s character’s strength is tested as they struggle with the imminent and eventual loss of one of their own.

Run by Truvy Jones, Truvy’s Salon is seemingly the gossip hub of the town. Regulars such as the gleeful widow of the town’s former mayor, Clairee Belcherand, and Louisa "Ouiser" Boudreaux, the irritable and sardonic neighbor, often pop by whether getting their hair serviced or not – just to hear, or pass on, the latest. M’Lynn Eatenton and her daughter Shelby are also staples in the shop, Shelby now getting ready for her wedding day. At first it seems we are thrust into light-hearted beauty salon talk. Truvy loves to listen as much as she loves to dish out advice. Even though it mainly consists of neighborhood small talk, the dialogue is so rich and humorous, we can’t help but get pulled in. Quickly the characters become charming in their own ways; each personality so well-crafted in just the first scene. Minutes into the play, we feel we know them.

It’s Annelle Dupuy’s first day and she’s got a lot to take in.

Lighthearted soon goes to serious at the drop of a hat when Shelby falls into a hypoglycemic state while sitting in a salon chair. M’Lynn rushes to her aid with a juice box forcing her to drink the sugary liquid. From there theatre goers are on notice to proceed with caution – tear jerker coming.

As the story progresses, Truvy begins to look at Annelle as the daughter she never had, something they each so desperately seem to need. We watch Annelle grow from timid employee to becoming a confident woman. At the same time, an impending doom looms over the story concerning Shelby’s condition, especially when she announces she is pregnant – something doctors warned her against due to the strain it would cause on her body. Though greeted with a series of “congratulations” by each of the women, M’Lynn does not share the enthusiasm, knowing the risks that would be involved.

Linda Fortunato directs this production as smoothly as a gentle southern breeze that brushes against a Weeping Willow. The exceptionally well-acted play is really cut into four scenes, each one as engaging as its colorful characters. Theater at the Center favorite Cory Goodrich returns as M’Lynn Eatenton and powers her way through the complicated role displaying a much-needed warmth, concern and love for her daughter. Shelby is wonderfully played by actress Landree Flemming. We immediately connect with her, which makes us relate to her mother even more so. Heidi Kettenring successfully turns on the southern charm as Truvy and is extremely likeable in the role as the salon’s queen bee.

The cast is superb – all players adding just the right amount of personality to each character. Myesha-Tiara is finely-cast as Annelle, while veteran performers Joslyn Yvonne Jones as “Ouiser” and Jeannie Affelder as Clairee add the final touches that makes this such a powerhouse cast.

The three-quarters theatre-in-the-round staging give us an up close and personal peek into the well-constructed set that consists of Truvy’s in-home beauty salon complete with all the works, mists of hairspray and all.

Women as strong as steel yet as fragile as the magnolia flower, the title suggests we can all be broken yet each one of us has the inner strength to prevail no matter how bleak a situation might seem, even if some of that strength is on loan to us by a friend.

Highly recommended.

Steel Magnolias is being performed at Theater at the Center in Munster, Indiana through March 25th. For tickets and/or more show information visit www.TheaterAtTheCenter.com.

*Tissues are offered by ushers upon exit.

Playwright Sean Grennan’s latest work is based on a true story about a successful heart transplant that occurs between two very different people who meet briefly and then go on to complete each other's lives without meeting in this world again.

Joy, played realistically and with dry humor by the playwright's sister, Erin Noel Grennan, has just received a heart transplant and is struggling with depression about why she is still alive and what happiness she can find by continuing to work, make money, spend money and work some more. Joy is a cynical loner, abandoned by her parents with one great friend named Dara, played with great humor by Jeri Marshall.

Joy finds out from her nurse, also played by Marshall (who is great at character studies), that she can write a thank you note to the donors family and does so with wonderful but challenging emotional consequences. 

It turns out her donor, Jack, played with sensitivity by Doogan Brown, a 36-year-old aspiring photographer that she once met in a coffee shop and flirted with, still has a family of three that miss him very much and are devastated by his sudden death caused by a car accident. 

Jacks' mother, father and sister - Hank (Steve Pickering),  Alice (Annabel Armouray) and  Sammy (Kayla Kennedy) are all characters brought to life with precision and care. Outside of a reluctant Hank, the family welcomes Joy into their home, hoping to find some answers or comfort for their loss in this stranger who is  carrying the heart of their child in her chest. 

One of the most touching and poignant moments in the play is when each family member listens to Joy's chest and realize that there is their son and brother, his heart still beating out his particular rhythm into this world.

Jack is shown in flashbacks and as a spirit who is sticking around in this world to oversee the healing process begun by the family meeting and bonding with his donor. 

The Tin Woman is directed with great ease into a thoughtful yet quickly moving pace by Linda Fortunato and is complimented with an all-female tech crew including a great set by Sarah Ross. The play includes set lighting by Shelley Strasser-Holland, sound by Victorio Deiorio (who also composed the original music) and costumes by Brenda Winstead, along with props by Brittney O’Keefe. The Tin Woman is a fabulous example of the success that comes with employing women at every level of theater and allowing them free reign to do their jobs. 

Although I have come to expect the fun and excitement of the large, musical theater type productions from Theatre at the Center, this serious, yet darkly funny play was a refreshing offering. 

The simplicity and universality of the story regarding surviving life after the death of a loved one fell on the audience like a soft, summer rain. 

Grennan's writing combined with his own sister's excellent portrayal of a cynical single woman at a crossroads in her life, cleanses the mind and soul with both tears and laughter so that the hope of emotional healing comes shining through the rain.

The Tin Woman is being performed at Theatre at the Center in Munster, IN through August 13th. For more show information or to purchase tickets, visit www.theatreatthecenter.com.

If you’ve ever enjoyed the 1975 film “Monty Python and the Holy Grail”, then “Spamalot” is definitely for you. But even those who have never seen the classic comedy would be hard pressed not to relish the musical proudly tabbed as “lovingly ripped off from the motion picture”. Now playing at the Theatre at the Center in Munster, Indiana through October 18^th, “Spamalot” brings its witty English humor to your doorstep – well, at least just a short drive away. From its opening number “Fisch Schlapping Song” to its roaring finale “Always Look on the Bright Side of Life”, this is a musical that never runs out of funny.

Celebrating 40 years since the film was released, “Spamalot” comes with a renewed score created by Eric Idle and John Du Prez. Directed flawlessly by David Perkovich and choreographed to perfection by Linda Fortunato, each number captures just the right amount of physical comedy needed to score high on the funny meter while also keeping the integrity of Monty Python humor firmly intact. Colette Todd, is stunning as she is humorous as the “Lady of the Lake”.  A true talent, Todd gets to show off her impressive vocal range on many occasions and also dazzles the crowd with her spot on comedic chops. Comic timing is vital in Theatre at the Center’s production of “Spamalot”. Chicago favorite Larry Adams knows this and is more than up for the challenge as he takes on the leading role of King Arthur and runs with it.  Adams really brings down the house in his very funny rendition of “I’m All Alone” and is just marvelous as the often oblivious king who must lead his men in the search for the Holy Grail.

The cast as a whole is impressive and many play multiple roles. With wonderful performances by Jarrod Zimmerman (Sir Dennis Galahad, Dennis, Black Knight and Herbert’s Dad), Sean Fortunato (Sir Lancelot, The French Taunter, Knight of Ni and Tim the Enchanter) and a very strong ensemble, I only regret not naming the entire cast in this review because they all deserve their kudos.  

“Spamalot” is a spin on King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table like never done before. Its unique Monty Python humor is heavily instilled into each bit of dialogue as well as its many colorful and hysterical dance numbers, making this the perfect musical production to add to your calendar.  

“Spamalot” is smashing.

For show information and tickets visit www.theatreatthecenter.com.